Camelopardalids Report

Well, if any of you stayed up late to watch the Camelopardalids as I did, I hope you enjoyed gazing at the night sky, even if you didn't see any meteors. I didn't see a single meteor, but others around the country caught a few. By all reports, it was a pretty lackluster meteor shower. According to spaceweather.com, there were an average of 5 to 10 meteors per hour. 

Earthsky.org shared a few nice Camelopardialids photos. 

Image credit: Steve Lucy and earthsky.org

Image credit: Kevin Palmer and earthsky.org. Kevin captured this image from the Green River State Wildlife Area in Illinois.

To be fair, astronomers did say there might be a new meteor shower, but it would be hard to predict how good of a show it would be. If you were disappointed this time, try again with the Perseids, coming up on August 12. This predictable shower is caused by Earth passing through the dust left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle. You can expect to see an average of 60 meteors an hour if you have a dark viewing spot for the Perseids.

 Canyon Diablo meteorite on display in the Dome Lobby

Have you ever touched something from outer space? You can see and touch a meteorite in the Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not! exhibition at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, and in our Dome lobby. Both  are pieces of the Canyon Diablo meteorite, which created the Barringer Crater in Arizona about 50,000 years ago; the age of woolly mammoths and giant ground sloths. The original meteorite is believed to have been about 160 feet across. Its impact released 10 megatons of energy (more than an atomic bomb), and left a crater about 4,000 feet in diameter. Fragments of the meteorite have been collected and traded since the mid-1800s. The pieces are incredibly heavy, since like most meteorites, they are made mostly of iron. Come to the museum to check the meteorites out yourself, and catch a planetarium show while you are here! Find our show schedule and descriptions here. 

Touch a rock from space and see many more unbelievable items in Science of Ripley's Believe It or Not! exhibition!